Summary

Description

Many scientific questions and policy issues related to sediments in Long Island Sound require data of historical, regional and interdisciplinary scope. Existent data is often geographically clustered and its references are widely dispersed and not always accessible. Acquisition of new data is expensive and may duplicate previous efforts if a full interpretation of existent data has not occurred. Consequently, the body of existing data needs to be utilized to its maximum so that it can serve as a foundation, baseline, and starting point for further work. An accessible, documented, and simple-to-use compilation of existing data on sediment properties is essential for environmental managers, policy-makers, scientific researchers, and interested members of the public. To this end, we have compiled, edited, and integrated all of the available data on sediment texture and bottom descriptions throughout the Sound in order to produce a regional dataset which will be available to a wide variety of current and potential users. The significant feature of this textural dataset is that it comprehensively contains original data from many heterogeneous sources.